Tigers fall to Emmett 34-21

Things were looking good for the Mountain Home Tigers in the second quarter of Friday night's conference football game with the Emmett Huskies.

The Tigers defense had made adjustments to contain the Huskies running and passing games, and Mountain Home had just scored to go up 14-0 with four minutes left till half-time.

But then the Tigers lost Tyson Sessions to an injury, and suddenly the young Tiger squad was facing some adversity. The Huskies scored 20 points before halftime to take a 20-14 lead, on their way to a 34-21 SIC 4A conference win.

The Tigers got their first score in the first quarter, set up by a 62-yard pass from Bob Daniels to Josh Reynolds, which put the ball on the Emmett one yard-line.

On the next play, Bob Daniels took it in for the score, and with Kyle Clark's PAT, it was 7-0, Mountain Home, with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

That was the scoring until the Tigers took advantage of a bad snap from center on an Emmett punt, and Husky punter Caleb Stover was tackled at the Emmett 40, where Mountain Home took over on downs. 10 plays later, Bob Daniels connected with Josh on a 13-yard scoring strike. Kyle Clark's PAT made it 14-0, Tigers with 4:00 minutes left.

Emmett started from their 40 yard-line, and completed a fourth-and-eight to get to the Tiger 22-yard line. A penalty against Mountain Home moved it to the 17, and then Toby Hyde connected with Marcus Thayne on a 17-yard touchdown pass. They failed on their two-point attempt, and it was 14-6, Mountain Home with 2:18 left in the half.

The Tigers started on their 15, and on second down, Bob Daniels pass was intercepted by Jake Lyter, who ran it back to the Tiger four-yard line. Ira Liburd ran it in from there for a touchdown. Toby Hyde passed to Marcus Thayne for the two-point conversion, tying the game at 14-14, with 1:27 left in the half.

The Tigers started from their 20 on their next possession, and on second down, a fumble was recovered by Emmett, with Josh Wallace running it in for the touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, but Emmett led, 20-14, with 1:10 left in the half, a lead they took into the locker room at halftime.

After the Tigers' opening drive of the second half stalled on the Emmett 28-yard line, the Huskies went on a 71-yard, 15-play scoring drive, with Toby Hyde running it in from 30 yards out for the score. Hyde then passed to Jake Lyter for the two-point conversion, and Emmett led, 28-14, with 4:46 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers' last score came after recovering a fumble on the Emmett 22-yard line. Chris Knudson scored from six yards out, and Kyle Clark booted the PAT to bring the Tigers back within seven, 28-21, with 29.8 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Toby Hyde passed to marcus Thayne for 43 yards and a touchdown. The two-point try failed, but it was 34-21, Emmett, with 11:27 left in the ball game.

Mountain Home then put together a long drive that moved the ball from their own 23 down to the Emmett 29, before Bob Daniels was sacked back at the 42 on fourth down, the ball going over on downs to the Huskies.

Neither team scored the rest of the way, and the Huskies prevailed, 34-21.

Coach Floyd called it a frustrating game for his young Tiger squad to lose.

"It was one of those games where you're about to turn the corner and really kind of put the game away. We have them fourth-and-eight and all of a sudden we lose our football I.Q. and they get the first down, and score, and then we throw the pass interception, and then we're content to run out the clock and fumble the ball away. It was the most explosive two minutes of football I've ever seen by them."

The Tigers rushed for 122 yards, led by Chris Knudson, who took over the fullback spot in the second half and rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Georgio Sutton who missed the Vallivue game with bruised ribs, rushed nine times for 22 yards. Bob Daniels had 16 rushed for 19 yards. Tyson Sessions had two carries for 15 yards, and Zacq Hale rushed four times for 10 yards.

Through the air, the Tigers completed 10 of 26 passes for 185 yards. Bob Daniels was 8/20 for 145 yards, a touchdown and two pass interceptions, and Dave Anderson was 2/6 for 40 yards, with one interception.

Emmett rushed the ball 40 times for 213 yards, led by Ira Liburd with 21 rushes for 121 yards. The Huskies completed 14 of 22 passes for 129 yards, with two touchdowns, and one interception.

The Tigers are back on the road Friday night, traveling to Skyview to face the Hawks in conference football. The Hawks blew a 21-7 lead last week and lost to Sandpoint in overtime, to fall to 0-3 on the season.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night at Skyview, with the game heard live over KMHI AM 1240, starting with the 6:30 pre-game.